Charmed 2022: The Next Generation
by liberal4peace
Summary: Year:2022 What could possibly have the Charmed Ones and their children under one house? Their biggest threat since the Ultimate Power. Will contain Charmed Ones, their spouses, their children, and Billie. They all play an almost equal part. Enjoy!
1. Ages in 2022

2022

Wyatt & Kendra-- 19

Chris-- 18

Melinda-- 15

Padma-- 13

Pandora-- 11

Prudence-- 8

Penelope & Patricia-- 14

Henry Jr.-- 12

Piper-- 49

Phoebe-- 47

Paige-- 45

Billie-- 36

Astrid-- 11


	2. The Beginning

Kendra stood in shock. This was impossible. What had she done? How could this happen? She left the trashed room and ran outside, dialing the familiar number into her cell phone as she went. _What's up? You've reached Wyatt Halliwell. Can't pick up right now, I'm busy doing something else. But feel free to leave a name and number and I'll call you back later. Beep. _

"Damn," Kendra cursed. She redialed the number. "Hey, Wyatt, it's Kendra. Um, I'm not working today so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something. _This wasn't exactly why she was calling, but it was true all the same. _And there was something I wanted to ask you about. So, um, just call me back when you get this message. Bye." Kendra hung up the phone. She looked behind her shoulder at her apartment. She didn't want to go back inside. Whatever had happened scared her and she didn't want to be in there if whoever had been there came back.

It was times like this Kendra hated being a witch. Usually she loved it. She wasn't a Charmed One, so she wasn't swamped with demons, but she could always find one if she needed to kick some demon ass. And she really loved her Glamouring power when she had a bad hair day. But more than anything else, Kendra loved being a witch because it brought her to her best friend, boyfriend, and whitelighter-- Wyatt Halliwell. And with Wyatt, she had been given a family-- the family she'd always dreamed of, but never had.

Kendra's father had run off when she was a baby, upon finding out his wife was a witch. Her mother, Daria, had been killed by a demon when Kendra was fifteen. She had been sent to foster care and had changed homes so often, she never truly felt safe. Her older sister, Vatusia, named after their African father's favorite aunt, had already been eighteen when Daria died, and although she knew Kendra was a witch, she hadn't been willing to take her in, instead running away to collage in New York.

But with Wyatt came a huge family. Piper, always happy to have another person at the dinner table. Melinda, happily coming to Kendra when she needed advice that was too embarrassing to ask her mother about, and she knew her aunts would only tell Piper later. Phoebe, always the first to give advice, before Kendra even knew she needed it. Leo, coming to her rescue when she was only seventeen and finding a spot at Magic School for her. And of course, Paige with the help of Chris, making sure she got outside enough and saw the world instead of hiding in her room studying all day. Kendra never felt bored around the Halliwells.

Sighing, she decided to call Phoebe for advice about the mysterious break in. _Hi, you've reached Phoebe Halliwell. I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I get a chance. Beep. _"Hi, Phoebe, it's Kendra. I didn't really need anything in particular, just wanted to ask you something. So if you could give me a call back when you get the chance, I'd appreciate it. Thanks, bye." Kendra looked up. Without realizing it, she had walked to 1329 Prescott Street. Since she was already there, Kendra decided to see if anyone was home. She walked up to the big door and knocked gently. The door flung open, along with cries of _"I told you Mommy, I told you!! See!" "Padma, you were right!!" _I laughed as a very frazzled Billie came to the door.

"Get inside NOW!" She said to the girls. "What have I told you a countless number of times, and don't get that look on you face Miss Pandora because I know your mother tells you this too. Do not open the door without an adult." She turned to Kendra. "I'm sorry, Kendra. Come on in." I followed her into the living room.

"What's going on?" Kendra asked curiously, and a little bit nervously. Billie sighed.

"There have been multiple attacks around the world; France, Mali, Russia, South Carolina, Venezuela, Egypt, and now here in San Francisco. The kicker is, they're all very similar, and rare, attacks. Really weird and gruesome. The girls were just debating what to do when there was one here. Scared the shit out of Piper. Thankfully, we were all here and able to protect the kids, but the demon got away in time. They scried for the demon, and multiple locations showed up. The sisters are down in the Underworld, Leo's asking around about them wherever he can, and Chris and Wyatt are following a lead somewhere in Egypt. It's bad." Kendra frowned.

"And I could be out there helping, but _noo_. After all, I'm only fifteen. There's no way someone my age could help," an upset voice whined from the kitchen.

"Melinda, get back to work on those potions and if I hear one more negative peep out of you I'll tell your mother." Penelope rolled her eyes from the couch. "You too, Missy." Kendra's frown grew. She'd never seen Billie like this. Sure, she'd only known her two years, but she always seemed really laid back. Piper was the neurotic one who worried constantly. But at the moment, Billie seemed absolutely exhausted. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and she was wearing worn out jeans. But it was more than that, she wasn't wearing any makeup and Kendra could see the dark circles under her eyes. Her face was thin and her jeans hung loose around her small waist.

"What's going on?" Kendra repeated in a whisper. Now it was Billie's turn to frown.

"You mean Wyatt hasn't told you anything?" Kendra shook her head. It was then that she noticed the large burn on the side of Billie's neck, and the crystals placed around the room.

"Billie," Kendra said, pointing to Billie's neck. Billie shrugged.

"Leo was able to heal it, but the scar hasn't faded. It's worse than it looks. I'm surprised you don't know about any of this," she commented.

"You're lucky to be alive," Kendra mumbled shaking her head confusedly. She thought back over the last few weeks. She hadn't seen Wyatt, or any of the Halliwells much, and when she did it was at her apartment or in a public place. Wyatt had seemed really distant, but she hadn't wanted to push him.

"How long has this been going on? And what exactly has been happening?" Billie shrugged again.

"A few weeks maybe." It fit. It all fit.

"People, mostly witches, have been coming home to find their houses trashed. The next day, they get a note telling them to be careful. The next day, a demon attacks, throwing an energy ball at the person, not immediately killing them. Then, while they're still alive, he feeds on their body. It's horrible," Billie finished in a whisper. Kendra nodded.

"Oh, my god," Kendra whispered fearfully.

"What?" Billie asked.

"I came home this morning after doing some shopping. My apartment was completely destroyed. I tried calling Wyatt and Phoebe, but neither answered. I came here because I didn't want to go home."

"Shit," Billie swore, grabbing the phone. She dialed a number quickly.

"_Hello?" _Kendra could hear the other voice; Leo.

"Hey, Leo, it's Billie."

"_Is everything ok? Is anyone hurt?" _Billie shook her head.

"No, we're all ok. But Kendra's here. She came home this morning to find her apartment trashed."

"_Damn it. Tell her to stay there. We'll figure this out tonight. Billie, I've gotta go. I'll see you later." _He hung up.

"We'll figure this out later. Until then, you're staying here, ok?" Kendra nodded. The two girls drifted into silence. After a while, Kendra found her voice.

"So is this why you're watching all of the kids?" Billie nodded.

"Yeah, they figured I'd be the best person to stay behind, not that I mind," Billie paused. Kendra remembered Wyatt telling her about how Billie was hesitant about demon hunting, and magic in general, after everything with her sister. "And we thought this would not only be the largest, but also the safest place for us to stay."

"But_ some_ people aren't too happy about having to stay here when they could be out there helping," Melinda's angry voice snapped.

"_Some _people are going to be grounded if they don't shape up soon. There is a reason you are not out there and I think you know it," Billie retorted, just as angrily. A young girl with blonde hair and bright blue eyes ran into the room.

"Mommy, Henry Jr. called me a mean name," the girl pouted. Billie sighed exasperatedly. Henry Jr. poked his head into the room.

"Henry, will you please apologize to Astrid?" Henry Jr. smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, Astrid." Astrid smiled. "It's ok." The two kids ran back into the other room. Billie rolled her eyes.

"I swear she has a crush on him," Billie smirked, a far away look on her face. Kendra smiled sadly at the loving look Billie had in her eyes. Astrid Christie meant the world to Billie, even if the way she came into the world was painful. As far as Kendra knew, Billie never talked about how her daughter came to exist. It was simply too painful and embarrassing for her to talk about. Even so, Kendra knew the basics of what happened the night Astrid was conceived.

"You're a great mother, Billie." Billie's mouth smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Maybe. I could be better." Kendra wanted to protest, but she knew there wasn't any point. Billie wouldn't listen to her anyway. There was a jingle in the kitchen and Piper ran in followed by Paige and Phoebe.

"Hey, Billie, did the kids behave? Kendra, are you ok? Are you hurt?" Piper demanded. Kendra shook her head.

"How'd it go?" Billie asked. Paige sighed as her youngest niece ran into the room. Phoebe scooped her eight year daughter into her arms. Kendra smiled. Prudence was the spitting image of her mother.

"Terrible. We couldn't find them anywhere. We think everyone needs to stay here tonight. You too, Kendra." Billie nodded.

"Where will everyone sleep?"

"Well, there are four bedrooms. Leo and I will stay in ours with Melinda; Paige, Henry, and their kids can stay in Chris's room; Phoebe, Coop, and their kids can stay in Melinda's room; Billie and Astrid can stay in Wyatt's room; and Chris, Wyatt, and Kendra can stay in the living room. It'll be cramped, but we can make it work, I'm sure," Piper mused out loud. Phoebe nodded.

"That sounds good. Let's set up some extra crystals around each room. Just to be safe," Paige suggested. Piper nodded agreeing with her sister.

"Coop!" Phoebe called. Coop teleported into the room. He looked around the room.

"Is everything ok?" He asked worriedly. Phoebe nodded. Pandora ran happily into the room.

"Daddy!!" She exclaimed cheerfully. Coop growled mischievously and scooped up his daughter, holding her upside down. She shrieked playfully. Phoebe shook her head in mock exasperation. Henry Jr. chased a squealing Padma into the room. Paige looked at her son, giving him the tell-tale "mom look". He smiled impishly. Padma frowned.

"Mo-om! Henry Jr.'s being annoying me!" Phoebe rolled her eyes. Piper exhaled slowly, trying to keep a hold on her patience.

"Children, could you please all go in the other room and play _quietly_ while the adults discuss a few things?" Henry Jr., Padma, and Prudence all ran out of the room. Pandora gave an exaggerated pout.

"But Aunt Piper, Daddy _just_ got home and I haven't seen him _all _week." Piper rolled her eyes. Coop knelt down to his middle daughter's level.

"Sweetie, I'm going to be home all night tonight. And we will hang out tonight as long as you want, I promise. But Mommy and Daddy need you to please play with your sisters and cousins for a few minutes, ok?" Pandora nodded. Coop gave her a hug.

"I love you, sweetie." Phoebe smiled at her husband.

"I love you, too, Daddy," Pandora said before skipping out of the room. Coop looked at the sisters.

"What's up?" He asked. Paige sighed.

"There was an attack here this morning. Piper thinks we all need to stay here until this all gets straightened out. And I think it would be a really good idea if we all stayed together as much as possible." She gave him a pointed look. Coop had the good grace to look sheepish.

"I know I haven't been home much, baby, but I'll stay here and do what you want until this is over." He kissed Phoebe gently on the forehead. Phoebe smiled.

"I hate to break up the love fest, but I want to go get Henry." Piper nodded. Paige was about to orb out when Piper grabbed her orbs. Paige reappeared.

"Yeah?"

"Take Phoebe with you. I don't think we should be alone. That goes for all of us." Paige grabbed Phoebe's hand and they orbed out. Piper turned to Kendra.

"Did Billie fill you in on everything?" She asked. Kendra nodded.

"Why didn't Wyatt tell me anything?" She asked, feeling a little bit betrayed and hurt. Piper shrugged.

"I don't know, sweetie. He was probably just trying to protect you. Don't worry about it. You can grill him tonight if you want. I'm going to go call Leo and see when he's going to get home and then set up the crystals in all of the bedrooms." She turned and went upstairs to the attic. Coop glanced into the other room where Prudence was giggling.

"Henry! Stop it!" Coop smiled.

"I'm gonna go hang out with the kids." Billie nodded and turned to Kendra as Coop left the room.

"I'm going to go check on Melinda and relieve her from potion duty if she wants. You in?" Kendra nodded. Just as the two young women were about to walk into the kitchen, the room was filled with the sound of orbs.

"Kendra!" A surprised voice exclaimed.

**A/N Hello! Wow! 2375 words. As you can all tell, I'm back in the writing business. I'm so sorry if you're waiting for any of my other stories, they are on hiatus. But, until then, I will be working on this. This is the first Charmed story I'm publishing, and I hope you like it. Enjoy! **


	3. Needing Family

**Kendra spun around, coming face-to-face with Wyatt. Billie bit her lip nervously and walked into the kitchen. Kendra glared at her boyfriend. Wyatt put his arms around her, but she quickly pulled away and crossed her arms across her chest. **

"**I'm sorry, baby. I was going to tell you, I swear. I just didn't want to until I was sure it was going to be a problem. I didn't want you to worry. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to keep it from you. I just wanted to protect you, I promise." He gave her a puppy dog face and Kendra's heart melted. **

"**All right. You're off the hook. **_**This time. **_**Next time, though…." She sighed, a mock far away look in her eyes. Piper ran downstairs frantically. Wyatt looked at his mother worriedly. **

"**There's been another attack." **

"**Shit," Wyatt swore. Paige and Phoebe orbed in along with Henry, who looked a little dazed. He hadn't quite gotten use to orbing yet.**

"**On who?" Wyatt asked. Billie and Coop ran into the room. Piper sighed and looked down at her feet. **

"**Richard Montana." Paige gasped. Kendra glanced at Wyatt, confused. Sensing her confusion, Paige explained. **

"**Richard is my ex-boyfriend." Kendra's mouth formed an 'O' shape. Phoebe put a reassuring hand on her younger sister's arm while Billie smiled at her sympathetically. **

"**I'm sorry," Kendra said. Paige shrugged. **

"**I haven't seen him in… God, it's been over a decade. Eighteen years, I think. Damn, I'm getting old!" Phoebe rolled her eyes. Only Paige could think about her age when she found out her ex-boyfriend had been killed by a demon. Granted, she was married with children now. Still…**

"**Hey, Missy Paige, if you're getting old, then **_**I'm **_**getting really old," Piper complained. Kendra smiled. This was why she loved being around Wyatt's family. Looking up a foot at her six foot two boyfriend, who protectively had put his arm around her, Kendra knew that she would be with her boyfriend the rest of her life. **

"**Actually, I think I saw him once in the mall a few years ago. I didn't talk to him. I haven't even thought about him in years. Time flies, doesn't it, Piper? Chris wasn't even born yet, was he? No, he was just our neurotic whitelighter back then. Oh! The last time I saw Richard was the day I found out who Chris really was! Wow, " Paige mused. Kendra frowned as Chris orbed in. He, like many of the others, looked worn and tired, even more so then Billie. **

"**Speak of the devil," Paige murmured. Out of the corner of her eye, Kendra saw Wyatt mouth 'you're in trouble'. Piper, who had been on her way to the kitchen, spun on her heel. **

"**Why weren't you two together?" She demanded, glaring at her sons. Chris put his hands up. **

"**Wyatt wanted to get home and make sure everything was ok, and I just wanted to check out one more place. I swear, Mom. It was just for a few minutes." Piper's face slipped into a small frown, but she didn't say anything else on the subject. **

"**It's going to be ok, sweetie. You'll find her," Piper promised. Chris shrugged. Melinda ran into the room. **

"**Mom, I want to help! I'm old enough now! I could be really helpful out there!" Piper sighed and knelt down next to the fifteen year old. **

"**Melinda, honey, you're going to be most helpful here at the house," she said gently. Melinda frowned angrily. **

"**Mom, I'm a big girl now!" Piper shook her head.**

"**No." **

"**But, Mo-om!" She whined. Piper cut her off. **

"**Melinda Prudence Halliwell, I said no! If you want to be treated like an adult you need to start acting like one! You aren't two!" Melinda glared at her mother and stalked upstairs. Piper sighed heavily. **

"**God help me," she muttered under her breath. Leo orbed in.**

"**Hi, baby," he said, kissing Piper on the forehead. "Is everyone all right? Are you ok Kendra?" She nodded. Wyatt tightened his grip around her. She smiled reassuringly at him and he kissed her nose. Piper smiled at her son, happy that he had fallen in love with such a great girl. Unfortunately, there were a few other things they had to take care of. **

"**Kids! I need everyone to come into the living room, please!" She yelled, parading everyone into the living room. The twins walked into the room, pretending to be nonchalant. Wyatt led Kendra to the couch and they sat down. Astrid ran into the room and flung herself into a chair, looking flushed. Henry Jr. followed behind her. Billie rolled her eyes. Padma and Pandora walked in and settled on the floor. Prudence came into the room happily and ran into Coop's arms. Piper looked around the room, frowning slightly. **

"**Melinda! Come here!" Piper yelled. No reply. **

"**Melinda!! Come downstairs now!" Paige and Phoebe shared a look. Melinda was clearly going through a moody teenager stage. **

"**MELINDA PRUDENCE HALLIWELL GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!!" Piper yelled, red in the face. Penelope looked at Patricia and the twins smirked. Melinda came sulking downstairs. Piper glared at her daughter. **

"**Sit. Down. Right. Now," Piper hissed through her teeth. Melinda sunk into a chair. Leo looked down at his feet. **

"**We'll talk about this later," Piper said angrily, before moving on to the more pressing subject. **

"**All right, we need a plan. Children, you are not to open the door or leave the house alone. We're going to do the buddy system. Everyone must be with your partner **_**at all times**_**," Piper gave her daughter a pointed look. Melinda scowled. **

"**Wyatt and Kendra, you two watch Padma; Chris and Melinda; Pandora, you stay with your mother; Prudence, stay with your father; Coop and Phoebe stay together; Penelope, stay with your mom; Henry Jr., stay with your dad; Paige and Henry stay together; Patricia, you're with me and Leo; Astrid, stay with your mom; Billie, how about you pair up with Chris and Melinda. Everyone got that?" Everyone nodded quickly. Piper sighed tiredly. **

"**All right, how about we all get ready for bed. Paige, could you and Phoebe get things set up? Thank you. Melinda come with me," she said, sighing again. Melinda followed her mother into the kitchen. **

"**Mom--" Piper cut her off.**

"**I don't want any explanations right now, Melinda. What the hell were you thinking? When I say no, I mean no. You know that. And right now is not the time to argue with me. Any of us. Please, honey, I know it's hard to sit on the sidelines, but whether or not you believe it, you're helping us more here than you would be out there. Please, just listen to us," Piper pleaded. Melinda was surprised to hear the pain in her mother's voice. Anger, she had expected. But not this. She wrapped her arms around her mom. **

"**I'm sorry, Mommy. I'll be good," she promised. Piper smiled weakly, kissing her daughter's head. **

"**Go get ready for bed. You're going to need you sleep." Melinda frowned and walked upstairs to brush her teeth. **

*************************************************

**Chris, Wyatt, and Kendra settled down on the couch and the conjured be in the living room. Chris had agreed to take the couch. The three teens sat up, looking at the flickering candles that were lighting the room, not saying anything, just sitting. Kendra had her head resting on Wyatt's shoulder and he put his arm around her. Chris sighed. **

"**What's wrong?" Kendra asked worriedly. **

"**Bianca. She went missing three days ago. I can't find her. I'm afraid that--" He trailed off. Kendra looked up at her boyfriend, grateful to be sitting in his arms and not out God-knows-where. **

"**You'll find her Chris. We'll find her," Wyatt promised. **

"**We don't hardly have time to look for her. You and I both know that Mom is going to have us busy." Wyatt knew his brother was right. **

"**Tomorrow we'll see if Mom will let us swap you and Padma. Melinda is fifteen. She'll be able to help out some with Billie. I promise." Kendra nodded.**

"**All right, if you say so," Chris said unsurely before blowing the candles out. The room was filled with darkness and Kendra cuddled up against Wyatt, glad for the warmth on the cold and lonely night. **

*********************************************

"**Mom, it's fine, really, I don't care," Melinda reassured her mother for the umpteenth time. Piper bit her lip doubtfully, but didn't say anything else. Melinda was sleeping on the floor with a pile of blankets. **

"**Piper, come on, she's fine. Does she ever keep her complaints quiet?" Leo teased. Melinda stuck her tongue out at her father. Piper smiled, shaking her head. **

"**All right. If you say so," Piper said, still sounding unsure. Melinda smiled. **

"**I say." Piper turned off the light and laid down next to Leo. Leo kissed her gently. She giggled quietly. **

"**Not now, Leo!" Piper exclaimed in a hushed whisper, still giggling. **

"**Eww. Are you two kissing?" Melinda asked. Piper blushed in the darkness and Leo stopped kissing her. The room was slowly filled with silence. **

"**Mommy," Melinda said, "I'm sorry." Piper's eyes filled with tears. **

"**I know baby. I know."**

**********************************************

**Paige conjured up a bed in Chris's room for Penelope and Patricia, who both laid down exhaustedly. **

"**Mommy! I want to sleep on the floor! Can I sleep on the floor?" Henry Jr. asked excitedly. Paige smiled to herself. **

"**Yes, honey. You can sleep on the floor." He flicked his hand and a blanket flew off the twins and landed in his hands, causing the two sisters to yelp in unison. Paige glared at the young boy. **

"**Henry, what have I said about using magic on your sisters?" Paige asked. Henry gave her a sheepish grin.**

"**Sorry, Mommy." He sent the blanket flying back to the bed. **

"**Mo-om!" Penelope complained. Paige sighed and turned off the light. **

"**Good night." There was a whooshing noise and Patricia shrieked. **

"**Girls!" Paige hissed. "Go to sleep!" **

"**But--" **

"**Good night." **

***************************************

**Phoebe felt a small, warm hand tugging on her own larger hand. She rolled over to face the edge of the bed. **

"**Hmm?" She murmured, not opening her eyes. **

"**Mommy, I'm scared," Prudence whispered. Phoebe scooted over and patted the spot next to her. Prudence climbed in the bed next to her mother. **

"**It's ok, baby. It's going to be ok. You don't need to be scared," Phoebe whispered quiet reassurances into her daughter's hair. Eventually, Prudence's breathing slowed and she fell asleep. Phoebe kissed the top of her head. **

"**It's going to be ok," she whispered. **

"**Who're ya talking to?" Coop mumbled. Phoebe shook her head. Coop tilted his head.**

"**Can't hear you." Phoebe groaned quietly. **

"**How can you be so obnoxious this late at night?" She asked. Coop smirked. **

"**It's a talent, I'd say. Wouldn't you?" **

"**Good night, Coop." **

*********************************************

**Astrid sighed quietly in her sleep. Billie smiled sadly at her daughter. The eleven year old's dirty blonde hair was stuck to her face from sweat. Billie gently brushed Astrid's hair out of her face. Astrid turned and flung an arm around her mother. Billie smiled, holding back a laugh. **

"_**Henry Jr.! Stop, silly! I love you." **_**Billie laughed loudly before slapping a hand over her mouth. Her daughter was in love with Henry Jr. Halliwell! Wait until she told Paige! This seemed slightly inappropriate, given that the two were raised practically as cousins, but who really cared? She shook her head, sighing. She loved her daughter so much. She grabbed her purse and pulled out her cell. She flipped it open and opened the text message that, no matter how hard she had tried, she had been unable to forget. **

_**Hey Billie. I want 2 C U soon. pls call or txt me. I need 2 C U. I miss U. Y haven't U called me? Pls, Billie. I want 2 C our grl. I will C her. With or without ur help. **_

_**D. **_

**Tears filled Billie's eyes. How could he do this to her? Why was he doing this to her? Why wouldn't he leave her alone-- or at least her daughter? Billie threw the phone across the room. She closed her eyes and tried to will sleep to come. But it was ages until she fell asleep again. **

**A/N Only 2060 words this time, but that's not too bad, is it? How're you liking the story? What do you think should happen next? Review, review, review! You're opinion is important!!**


	4. Fear and Fighting

The next morning at five AM, Piper drug herself out of bed and went down to the kitchen. As she walked past the living room, she saw Wyatt and Kendra cuddled together on the bed and Chris was curled up on the couch. She smiled at her children and headed into the kitchen. She measured out the coffee and water, then poured them into the coffee maker. She pressed 'on' and within minutes the familiar gurgling noise started up. Billie came walking in and gasped when she saw Piper. Piper spilled her coffee all over the paper.

"Shit!" Piper exclaimed. Billie rushed over.

"Oh! Piper, I'm so sorry! I didn't think anyone would be up yet!" Billie apologized. Piper waved away the apology as the two women cleaned up the mess.

"It's fine. Just tell me one thing. Why are you up at five in the morning?" Billie shrugged nonchalantly as she poured her own mug of coffee.

"I just couldn't sleep very well," she said, sitting across from Piper at the table. It was true; she couldn't sleep very well. It wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the whole truth. Piper nodded sympathetically.

"I understand. I can't sleep either. It'll all work out, though."

"People seem to be saying that a lot in this house lately," a voice came from the hallway. Billie and Piper both jumped simultaneously. Kendra walked into their view.

"Sorry," she apologized, pouring her own coffee and adding more water and coffee grounds into the maker.

"It's okay. We're all a bit jumpy this morning it seems. We're going to need a lot of coffee today." Billie nodded.

"What are you doing up? I know you don't normally get up this early. Are you all right?" Piper inquired. Kendra nodded.

"_I'm _fine. Your son, on the other hand, is snoring." Billie snorted just as Coop came down the stairs.

"Well, isn't this quite the early morning party. Do people do this every morning? I wouldn't know. I have to stay quiet until your sister gets up or all hell will break loose." Kendra laughed. Phoebe _was_ hard to wake up in the morning. Piper sighed.

"Oh dear. Chris only snores when he's worried," Piper started.

"Which is all the time," Paige cut in, walking into the kitchen. Coop smiled.

"My darling, neurotic son. Do you remember when he was our annoying, neurotic whitelighter?" Paige nodded.

"Even then, in that timeline, he was with Bianca. I swear, if we don't find her soon, he's going to bust a gasket." Billie nodded in agreement.

"Well, Mom, Chris and I had an idea," Wyatt said, walking in. Paige spilled her coffee.

"Damn it!" She cursed, cleaning it up with a wave of her hand. Coop smirked.

"What's your idea, hon?" Piper asked. Wyatt sat down.

"So, we kind of thought that it might be a good idea if Chris, Kendra, and I looked for Bianca today."

"What about the kids? Padma is supposed to be with you and Kendra, and Melinda is supposed to be with Chris, Billie, and Astrid," Piper asked.

"Mom, Melinda _is_ fifteen years old," Wyatt pointed out. "She could help out Billie with Astrid and Padma. They'll stay here and everything will be fine. I really think it will give Chris some peace of mind." Piper considered the idea carefully.

"Well…"

"Please, Mom," Wyatt begged. Piper gave in reluctantly.

"Ok. But only if Billie agrees to it. We don't want to overwhelm her…" Piper trailed off, clearly not happy about the idea of her two sons and one of their girlfriends going out who-knows-where.

"Of course! Anything to find Bianca!" Billie agreed. Wyatt smiled. Just then, Chris walked in holding Prudence.

"Are you guys talking about me?" Chris asked. Prudence ran over to her father and started telling him about the morning she'd had so far. Piper kissed her son's head gently.

"And then, Mommy kicked off all of my covers!" Prudence complained. Paige stifled a laugh. Piper sighed.

"Be back by noon." Chris nodded.

"Of course!" Kendra and Wyatt jumped up, grabbing each other's and Chris's hands. Piper sighed again heavily as they orbed out.

"I have a really bad feeling about all of this," Piper said as Melinda orbed into the kitchen. Paige jumped and Piper knocked over her coffee.

"God damn it!!" She exclaimed. Paige orbed the mess away as Melinda sat down next to Piper.

"What's wrong, Mom?" She asked. Piper glared at her.

"Where the hell have you been?" Piper demanded.

"What're you talking about?" Mel asked, feigning innocence.

"Don't give me that crap. Why'd you orb in here? If you were just upstairs why didn't you walk downstairs?" Mel shrugged.

"_**Melinda"**_ Piper warned. she sighed.

"All right, I was in the Underworld," she admitted. Everyone at the table instantly became very interested in their coffee.

"You. Were. In. The. Underworld?" Piper hissed. At that moment, the twins skipped down the stairs. Paige motioned for them to sit down and be quiet. The fourteen year olds sat down next to their mother. Piper was so mad she didn't even notice them coming in, followed by Henry.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU DOING IN THE UNDERWORLD ALONE? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? WERE YOU EVEN THINKING? WHAT THE HELL POSSESSED YOU TO GO DOWN THERE ALONE?" Paige tried to calm down her sister, but Piper shrugged her away angrily.

"YOU KNOW GOOD AND WELL THAT YOU DO NOT ORB INTO THE UNDERWORLD ALONE! YOU ARE NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT YOUR PARTNERS AT THE MOMENT! WAS BILLIE WITH YOU? NO! WAS CHRIS WITH YOU? NO! DID ANYONE EVEN KNOW WHERE THE HELL YOU WERE? NO! YOU ARE GROUNDED! AND I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ONE PEEP OF A COMPLAINT OUT OF YOU, MISSY! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Melinda nodded. Prudence burst into tears.

"Is Auntie Piper mad at me?" The eight year old whimpered. Piper's angry face softened as she looked at her niece. Coop rocked his daughter gently back and forth as Piper knelt down on the floor.

"Auntie Piper isn't mad at you, sweetie. Auntie Piper is angry with Melinda because she did something she knew she wasn't supposed to do. I'm sorry I yelled." She wiped the young girl's tears off her face. Phoebe trudged into the kitchen, followed by her two other daughters and Leo.

"Good lord, Piper. You could wake the dead," Phoebe mumbled, tripping over to the coffee maker and pouring herself a big cup. Piper ignored her.

"Leo. Would you like to know what your daughter did?" Leo looked down and gave Piper a kiss on the top of her head.

"Um, honey, I think the entire neighborhood knows what she did." Piper glared at him. "Melinda, that was very wrong. You know you're not supposed to go down there all alone. What were you thinking?" Melinda shrugged. Leo sighed.

"Any other mom would have smacked you silly for doing something like that," Piper said. Billie shifted nervously in her seat.

"Yeah, well, any other mom would let their daughter help out a little," Melinda retorted.

"Go to your room. NOW!" Piper yelled. Melinda started leaving, but then turned around.

"I hate you." Piper looked as if she'd been slapped. She stood up and silently slipped past Melinda, disappearing upstairs.

"Go to your room, Melinda," Leo said. Melinda gave him a pleading look.

"I mean it. Now." Melinda scowled and went upstairs. All the adults shared a look. This was going to be a really, really long day if Piper and Melinda were already fighting. It seemed as if every day consisted of Melinda disobeying her mother, Piper yelling, Melinda being rude, and Piper leaving the room in tears. Phoebe sighed, shaking her head.

"I'll do it. I swear, it's way too early in the morning for this. It isn't even six thirty yet." Coop shook his head.

"No, Phoebe. I'll do it." Phoebe jumped back in her seat, all too happy to let her husband, the epitome of love, go talk to her sister. Paige rested her head on her husband's shoulder and he hugged her close. Prudence slid out of her father's lap and into her mother's. Pandora went over to Billie and hopped onto her lap.

"Good luck," Phoebe called to her husband as he went upstairs.

"This is going to be a long day," Billie commented. Everyone nodded their head.

***************

Coop gently tapped on the closed door of Piper and Leo's bedroom. He heard the quiet sniffling of someone trying to stop tears.

"Who is it?" Piper's shaky voice asked. Coop opened the door.

"What do you want?" Piper asked. Coop sat down next to his sister-in-law without saying anything. Piper leaned over and started sobbing into his shoulder. Coop pulled her into his chest and gently rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"I'm a bad mom," she cried.

"No, you're not, Piper. You're a great mom," Coop argued.

"If I were a great mom, or even a good mom, my daughter wouldn't hate me." Coop shook his head.

"Growing up, especially when you were a teenager, did you ever feel like you hated your Grams? Especially during those teenage years where you weren't a little kid anymore, but you weren't quite old enough to have major freedom. Did you ever just feel like you absolutely hated your Grams?" Piper nodded.

"But did that mean that you didn't love her? Or that she didn't raise you well?" Piper shook her head.

"It just meant that you were starting to gain some freedom and you had bad days. It's the same thing with Melinda."

"But, what if…"

* * *

Henry Jr. stumbled downstairs and into the kitchen. Paige looked up.

"Hey, sweetie. What are you doing up this early?" He groaned.

"Who could sleep over Piper's screaming?" Paige laughed. Astrid came through the kitchen.

"Yeah, she totally missed her calling. She should have been an opera singer." Billie rolled her eyes.

"Or an editor," Padma added. Phoebe laughed.

"Or a parole officer," Henry Jr. supplied. Henry smiled. Leo shook his head. A minute later Coop and Piper came back downstairs. Piper gave her husband a shaky smile and sat down.

"Well, let's get ready. We have a lot to do today. We're all out of groceries, we have a really important food critic at the restaurant today so I have to be there, and I think we should try following a lead Wyatt found. Billie, could you do the grocery shopping?" Billie nodded. "All right, Phoebe you and Coop stay here, if Chris, Wyatt, and Kendra don't show up by twelve-thirty go looking for them. Melinda's in her room, if she tries anything send her to Magic School. Paige, you and Leo need to follow Wyatt's lead."

"Pandora, Patricia, and Henry Jr., how would you feel about hanging out at the restaurant?" They nodded eagerly. Piper glanced at Henry, who nodded.

"Ok, everyone go get ready, we'll meet back here in the kitchen at nine." Everyone rushed to try to get in the shower first.

* * *

"Chris, I don't think this is a good idea," Kendra said nervously, tightening her grip on Wyatt's arm. They were in a dark cave in the Underworld. The walls were covered in blood and the smell was horrible. Wyatt squeezed his girlfriend's hand reassuringly. Chris shook his head.

"I don't care. I have to look," Chris said. Kendra sighed. She knew that Chris may very well be right, but she didn't really like it too much.

"Chris, maybe we should give it a rest and go home. We'll try again later. We've been looking for hours," Wyatt tried. Chris shook his head vehemently.

"You and Kendra can go home if you'd like, but I'm staying. I have to find her." Wyatt shook his head, sighing. He knew that there was no changing his brother's mind now.

"No way, Chris. We're not leaving you alone. It's not safe, plus Mom would kill us." Chris nodded.

"Ok, so come on. Let's keep looking." A soft moan sounded through the cave. Chris stopped and looked around.

"Come on," Chris mouthed, motioning them forward. They followed a depressing tunnel through the cave. They finally came to a small opening.

"Chris… AHH!" She screamed in pain, which was followed by loud, racking sobs. Chris looked around frantically, before locating where the noise came from. When he finally found her he wanted to burst into tears himself. He grabbed onto Wyatt for support before running over to the small, shaking figure.

"Chris," She moaned before passing out. Chris gently scooped the women up into his arms.

"We need to get out of here and get her healed," Wyatt said. Kendra nodded worriedly. Chris grabbed his brother's arm, and the four figures left in a cloud of orbs.

**A/N Sorry it's been so long. 2,141 words this time. Do you like the chapter lengths? **


	5. Lost and Found

"Astrid, come on! We don't have all day!" Billie exclaimed in an annoyed tone. Astrid continued lagging along behind her mother. Billie frowned, crunching numbers in her head. She sighed, and got three gallons of milk out of the big refrigerator.

"Come on," she said, walking toward the check out. Watching her mother out of the corner of her eye, Astrid backed away from the line. As soon as she got out of Billie's sight, she broke out into a run. She dug a note out of her pocket and read it for the millionth time.

_Dear Miss Astrid Christie Jenkins, _

_Hello, Astrid! Can you keep a secret? A really good, juicy secret? You can't tell your mommy or any of the Halliwells. Do you still want to know? All right, I'll tell you. But I can't tell you right now. _

_**Astrid, it's a very good secret, but we need you to do something for us. **__Otherwise we can't tell you. __**It's very simple, sweetheart. All you have to do is come meet us in secret. **__Can you do that? __**Of course you can. Meet us tomorrow at 12:00 PM at the following location. **__Memorize this address, honey, and then get rid of it. You're a fire starter, aren't you? _

* * *

Billie turned around. "Astrid?" She looked around. "Astrid?" No answer. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. She sighed, maybe the eleven year old had gone back to the car. She grabbed the groceries and struggled out to the car, only to find it empty. Worry clawed at her chest.

"Astrid?!"

* * *

Paige groaned as she avoided another pile of god-knows-what. Why oh why had she worn a pair of new shoes today? She stopped for a second to admire the bright and shiny patent leather black high heeled boots she'd bought for a treat. What in the world had _possessed _her to wear them today?

"Leo, I think this is a lost cause. The only thing we've found is a bunch of demon juice. If anyone _was_ here then someone beat us to vanquishing them." Leo shook his head.

"I don't know that this is vanquished demon. It _could_ be, and if it is, then we need to find whoever vanquished them." Paige shrugged.

"How about we just thank them for taking care of the problem so we could go on with our lives? I've been hunting demons for twenty-one years, and quite honestly, I'm sick of it. What's the point in looking for trouble? It'll find us at some point or another anyway."

"Paige, I know you're tired of hunting demons, but it's your destiny. And think about it, if there's a demon out there killing our mystery demons, then he has to be really strong and powerful. That's not a good thing." Paige sighed, knowing her brother-in-law was right. As usual.

"But, since we haven't found anything, maybe we should go home and make sure everything is ok," Leo suggested. Paige nodded eagerly and they orbed back to the Manor.

* * *

"Mrs. de Laurentiis, how are you and your husband enjoying lunch? Does everything taste all right? Do we need some more wine?" Giada nodded.

"Oh, Mrs. Halliwell, it tastes wonderful! I have never tasted anything this, this, explosive! Is that curry I taste? I didn't think this dish contained curry, but it adds the perfect mixture of flavors! Although, I would never turn down a bit more wine." Piper smiled through her teeth.

"Of course, I'd be happy to. Just one moment." She walked into the kitchen.

"Piper, I'm so sorry, I didn't see what he did until you'd taken the bowl out, I'm so sorry, I didn't think he would do anything like this," Piper cut him off.

"It's ok, they actually liked the dish a lot, but Henry Jr., you shouldn't do that. It's not very polite, and you could have messed up Auntie Piper's lunch." Henry Jr. nodded his head. The twins stifled their giggles.

"Sorry, Auntie Piper." Piper nodded. The phone rang. Piper grabbed it.

"Piper Halliwell speaking," she answered. Someone on the other end cleared their throat.

"Piper, we have an emergency. You need to come home," Phoebe said uneasily. "Why isn't it working?" A voice demanded in the background.

"What is it? What's going on?" Piper asked. Phoebe sighed.

"Just come home." Piper groaned. "I'm on my way." Henry looked at her expectantly.

"We have to go. Give me just a second."

* * *

Phoebe sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels, unable to find anything. Prudence walked into the room and sat down next to her mother. Phoebe put her arm around the small eight year old.

"Hey, girly. How you doing?" Prudence shrugged.

"Mommy, why are Auntie Piper and Mel fighting so much?" She asked in her sweet, innocent voice. Phoebe hugged her worried daughter.

"Well, honey, Melinda is at an age where you start fighting with your parents sometimes," Phoebe explained. Prudence frowned.

"I'll never fight with you and Daddy," she declared. Phoebe smiled.

"What is I give you big kisses in front of your friends?" She asked, kissing Prudence's neck. She shook her head. "Hmm…. What if I tickle your tummy until you cry?" Phoebe tickled Prudence's stomach. She giggled, shaking her head. "Umm.. Let me think… What if I bring out your baby pictures in front of your boyfriends?" She shook her head. "Boys are icky!" Coop walked into the room with Pandora. He laughed.

"You keep thinking that, Prudence." Pandora sat down next to her mother as Coop stole the remote and scooped up his wife.

"Coop!" Phoebe screeched. "Put me down!" Padma giggled as she walked into the room and joined the fun. Coop kissed Phoebe's nose and sat down with her on his lap.

"Mo-om! Da-ad! You guys are soo gross!" Pandora groaned. Phoebe smiled and deliberately kissed Coop. Padma rolled her eyes. Her parents were _very_ romantic. It was sweet, but a little bit gross sometimes, admittedly. They were just so connected. It was almost scary. It was like they could read each other's minds. Melinda stomped down the stairs. Phoebe cleared her throat pointedly.

"Do you need something, Melinda?" Phoebe asked. Melinda didn't answer.

"Melinda?" Melinda glared angrily at her aunt. Phoebe got up off the couch and pointed up the stairs.

"Room. Now." She hissed. Melinda crossed her arms across her arms across her chest and cocked her head.

"Why should I? What are _you_ going to do? Ground me? You're not my mother." Phoebe ground her teeth together.

"Melinda Prudence, go to you room right now!" Melinda shook her head.

"I don't want to. I'd much rather go hunt some demons. Wanna come, Prudence?" Prudence shook her head.

"You shouldn't be so mean to everyone," she said. Melinda looked like she wanted to slap her cousin. Just then, Chris, Wyatt, and Kendra orbed in, holding a nearly unconscious Bianca.

"Oh my god! Shit! What happened?" Phoebe demanded, helping Chris lift Bianca onto the couch. Chris didn't answer her. He ripped Bianca's shirt off and put his hands over her chest. Nothing happened.

"We found her in the Underworld," Wyatt half explained, before helping his brother. Still, nothing happened. Paige and Leo orbed in. They both rushed over to the couch.

"What the hell happened?" Leo asked. Tears rolled down Chris's face.

"Why isn't this working?" The two newly arrived whitelighters put their hands over Bianca, but she wouldn't heal. Phoebe ran over to the phone.

* * *

As soon as they got out of the restaurant, Penelope and Patricia orbed their family to the Manor. Piper ran inside.

"What's going on?" She asked breathlessly. Chris was sitting on the couch next to a very weak looking Bianca. She rushed over to hug the frail girl.

"Honey, are you ok?" Piper asked. She nodded weakly. Paige motioned Piper into the other room. She followed her sister into the kitchen.

"They found her in a cave in the Underworld. She was unconscious and nearly dead. If they hadn't found her when they did… Well, it took all four of us to heal her as it was. As soon as Billie and Astrid get back, Leo and I want to check out that cave and see if we can find anything." Piper nodded.

"Phoebe and I'll come with you. Power of Three, right?" Paige laughed humorlessly.

"Never thought we'd say that again. Speaking of Billie, shouldn't she be back by now?" Piper nodded nervously.

"I'll call her," Paige suggested. Before Paige could pick up the phone, Billie ran through the door frantically.

"Billie, what's wrong?" Piper asked. Tears rolled down Billie's face.

"Have you seen Astrid?" Billie asked desperately. Paige and Piper shook their heads.

"We were a-at the, the store an-and I, I told her to come on and I- I got in line and the-then sh-she was gone! I can't find her!" Billie stammered, crying uncontrollably. Piper put her arm around the witch.

"We'll find her, sweetie. Don't worry. Come on, let's sit down." They walked back into the living room.

"Phoebe, go get a crystal. Leo, Paige, see if either of you can sense her. Wyatt, can you perform the 'To call a lost witch' spell?" They all nodded and rushed off to various places.

"_Power of the witches rise,_

_Course unseen across the skies._

_come to us who call you near,_

_come to us and settle here." _

Wyatt recited the spell after setting up an impromptu ritual space. Nothing happened. Billie whimpered. Wyatt tried again. Still nothing. Paige and Leo shook her heads. Phoebe returned.

"Nothing. She's not on the map anywhere." Piper thought for a moment and motioned Leo into the other room. Leo followed her.

"Leo, maybe we should try a spell to contact the dead." Leo's jaw dropped. "Piper--" "I know it's awful, but maybe we should try." Leo sighed. "Go upstairs and try it. Don't tell Billie unless something happens." Piper ran upstairs. After getting the right ingredients, Piper read the spell.

"_Hear these words, hear my cry,_

_Spirit from the other side._

_Come to me, I summon thee,_

_Cross now the Great Divide."_

Piper squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking out as a figure materialized into the room.

"Hey, Piper. Why are you crying?" Piper looked up, wiping her eyes.

"Prue?" She whispered.

"You called me," Prue shrugged. Prue stepped out of the circle. Piper rushed over to embrace her sister, before leading her downstairs. Phoebe jumped up.

"Prue!" Prue hugged Phoebe, but quickly let go.

"We'll have plenty of time for this later, right now we have work to do. You must be Billie, right?" Billie nodded, confusedly. "All right, Phoebe do you remember when we used the 'lost and found' spell?" Phoebe nodded. "And we tweaked it to find that guy?" Phoebe nodded again, catching on.

"If we tweak it again, we might find Astrid!" Piper gasped excitedly. Prue nodded. Billie looked hopefully at Leo. He shrugged.

"It's worth a try." Phoebe closed her eyes.

"_Show me the path,_

_that I cannot find_

_To save Astrid and restore_

_Billie's peace of mind."_

Billie sighed. Once again, nothing happened.

"Book of Shadows," Paige said, and the BoS materialized into her hand. The four sisters crowded around the book and started looking.

"Maybe we should try switching spirits?" Paige suggested. Piper rolled her eyes, remembering the time Paige and Phoebe accidentally switched bodies.

"Billie, you need to try this one," Phoebe said, showing her the 'To find a blood relative' spell.

"_Blood to blood I summon thee,_

_blood to blood, return to me." _

Nothing happened. Billie collapsed in a fury of tears. Piper scooped up the young woman into her arms.

"Shh, Billie, we'll find her, shh. It's ok. We're going to find her. Don't worry." Phoebe rested her head on Prue's shoulder. Melinda slunk quietly into a chair with Pandora, comforting her crying cousin. Prudence hid her face in her father's chest. A voice interrupted the distraught family.

"I think you could use my help." Phoebe whipped around.

"Cole?"

**A/N Last chapter when I said Pandora went with Piper, I should have said **_**Penelope.**_** Sorry. Pandora stayed with Phoebe. All these P's! 2016 words this time. **


	6. Problems and Complications

"Surprised?" Cole asked. Piper's eyes flashed with fury.

"Get. Out. Of. My. House. NOW you, you DEMON" Piper yelled, a level of rage, high even for Piper, in her voice, making her look quite like a demon herself. Cole chuckled in amusement.

"Oh, I could leave, I suppose. And you girls have every right to throw me out. Although, you, Piper should be thanking me after last time. I see and Leo did all right. Another kid. So, how are you ladies doing?" Piper groaned.

"We're doing just fine. We don't need your help. I don't know how the hell you got here, and I don't really care, but I want you to leave. Good bye." Piper pointed her finger in the direction of the door.

"I thought we got rid of you years ago," Prue grumbled under her breath. Paige nodded in agreement. Cole's eyes twinkled with excitement.

"To find out where Astrid is and fix this whole thing, we need to start from the beginning. What do we know so far?" Phoebe sighed.

"We know how it attacks. And we know some places where it has attacked. But that's about it," Bianca supplied. Chris nodded.

"Who would want to take Astrid?" Cole asked. Billie's eyes flashed with anger.

"Who the hell do you think took her? Whoever is behind the rest of this!" Phoebe put her arm around her nervous, slightly jittery friend.

"Maybe, maybe not." Cole shrugged. "Either way, who do you know that might want her?" Billie thought for a minute, then looked up suddenly.

"NO! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!" Billie shook her head. "No, no, no! That isn't possible! He, he isn't even magical. NO!"

"Billie, honey, what is it?" Paige asked frantically. Tears spilled quickly and furiously from her eyes.

"Her dad." Piper hissed angrily. Phoebe rubbed her temples tiredly. Paige swore under her breath. Prue sighed. Kendra gave them all a confused look.

"I thought her dad was dead." Billie shook her head. Now Chris looked up.

"I thought you killed him." Wyatt nodded, agreeing with his younger brother. Billie shook her head.

"He disappeared right after we found out Billie was pregnant. He was gone before we could do anything. Billie was such a nervous wreck that we decided to wait until a while later to find him. Then she went into early labor, and Astrid was so small we weren't sure she was going to live. By the time things settled down, we just didn't have the energy to find him," Piper explained.

"Not that we ever really had any right to go after him," Paige mumbled. Kendra cocked her head to one side, but Paige shook her head, signaling for her to wait.

"We didn't think he'd ever come back. I figured he died at some point. He was pretty heavily into drugs, wasn't he?" Phoebe asked. Billie nodded slowly.

"Did you have any idea that he was back?" Paige asked. Billie's thoughts flashed back to the previous night.

_Hey Billie. I want 2 C U soon. pls call or txt me. I need 2 C U. I miss U. Y haven't U called me? Pls, Billie. I want 2 C our grl. I will C her. With or without ur help. _

_D. _

"SHIT! Oh shit, shit, shit, shit. Damn it! I am so stupid!" Piper grabbed Billie's arms.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Billie showed her the text message. Piper sat down on the couch and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"All right, here's the plan. Billie, you're going to stay here. Try to get some sleep. Coop, Henry, and Leo, you stay here also. Kendra, Wyatt, and Chris, I want you guys to just concentrate on helping Bianca get better. Children, if any of you are any trouble," She gave Melinda a pointed look, "we will find out and you will be in more trouble than you can imagine at the mmoment. Prue, Phoebe, Paige, and Cole, we're going down to the Underworld where they found Bianca. Am I forgetting anyone?" Everyone shook their head.

"Good. Do we know the plan?" Everyone nodded.

"Good. We'll see you later." Piper grabbed her sister's hand and the five figures orbed out.

* * *

Leo watched as his wife disappeared. Even after twenty four years, he was still amazed by how quickly Piper could come up with a solution for something. Billie yawned. Leo turned around.

"You should try to get some sleep. We'll wake you up if anything happens." Billie nodded and slowly walked upstairs. She climbed into the bed. A half hour went by and she still couldn't sleep. Knowing she shouldn't do it, she walked over to her purse and pulled out a small bottle and a pill. Taking a swig out of the bottle, she popped the pill into her mouth. She grimaced as the pill went down and climbed into bed, waiting for sleep to come take her over.

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word,Mama's gonna buy you a that mockingbird don't sing,Mama's gonna buy you a diamond that diamond ring turns to brass,Mama's gonna buy you a looking that looking glass gets broke,Mama's gonna buy you a that billy-goat won't pull,Mama's gonna buy you a cart and that cart and bull turns over,Mama's gonna buy you a dog named that dog named Rover won't bark,Mama's gonna buy you a horse and that horse and cart falls down,You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town. _

"_Astrid? Astrid?" She looked into the crib. _

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" _

* * *

"_Billie, Billie," he taunted. She shrunk back against the wall. He cam closer, and closer. She couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in and he kept coming closer. She screamed._

* * *

"Billie! Wake up!" Leo exclaimed, shaking the young woman. Billie rubbed her eyes tiredly and sat up.

"What happened?" She asked sloppily. Leo sighed and held up the bottles, revealing the vodka and mysterious white pills.

"What's going on, Billie?" Billie's mouth dropped.

"You got in my purse? How dare you!" She grabbed the bottles and started to stand up. Leo put a hand on her shoulder.

"Billie, what's going on? Talk to me." Billie pushed his hand off of her.

"Go away, Leo. I'm leaving. I have to get out of here. I can't stay here." She pulled frantically at her hair.

"Billie,"

"Don't touch me!" She shrieked, running out the door. Leo sighed and went downstairs.

"Wyatt, I need you to take me down to where you found Bianca. I need the girls." Wyatt frowned, but didn't protest.

"All right," he replied. He gave Kendra a quick kiss and the father and son orbed out of the room.

* * *

"I don't see anything," Phoebe complained. The dark cave was silent and empty. Prue sighed.

"Maybe we should go home," Piper suggested unenthusiastically. Paige shook her head.

"No, we need to keep looking," she said, just as unenthusiastically as Piper had. Phoebe nodded in weak agreement.

"Well, Cole, do you recognize any of this from your demonic days?" Prue asked sarcastically. Cole shook his head.

"No, this is all new." Paige groaned.

"This is hopeless!" Piper glared at her sister.

"Shush. Don't say things like that. We've been through things worse than this." Phoebe turned around.

"Have we? We have five full witches, three witchlighters, one whitelighter, one ghost, and an ex demon- whatever the hell he is. How is it that not only do we still not know anything, but we've also lost Astrid? What has been worse than this?"

"No one's dead, Phoebe," Piper pointed out.

"Yet," Paige mumbled under her breath. No one said anything, but the general thought hung in the air. _"That we know of." _

"So Cole, since nothing interesting is going on, how exactly are you here?" Piper asked. Cole shrugged.

"You needed help. Fate decided it was my chance to do something good for once. Don't worry, I don't have an ulterior motive. It's been a long time. I'm not trying to steal Phoebe away. I'll always love her, but she's moved on. It's a lost cause. I'm here only to help you." Piper nodded, satisfied. Blue orbs appeared in front of the group, causing a communal groan.

"Leo? Wyatt? What's going on?" Phoebe asked.

"It's Billie. She's on something again." Paige groaned.

"She's been clean for nearly ten years!" Piper exclaimed. Leo nodded.

"I know." Phoebe sighed.

"Where is she?" Leo shrugged.

"I don't know. She ran out." Paige shook her head.

"This is all my fault. I should have noticed. We've all been under so much stress lately. And now with Astrid missing…."

"NO! Paige, This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. You could not have stopped this," Piper said.

"Let's go home. We have to find her." Paige sighed. The group orbed out.

As they all found their places in the living room, the Manor became silent. No one knew quite what to say. Cole stood in the door pane. Finally, a frustrated sigh came from the oldest, yet eternally thirty one year old Halliwell.

"Well, we need to decide what to do now," Prue stated plainly. Phoebe rolled her eyes and Wyatt made a 'duh' sound in the back of his mouth. Prue glared at her nephew.

"Don't sass me. I might be a ghost, but I'm still your aunt." Wyatt shrugged sheepishly. Piper sighed.

"She's right. We need to do something. And I think we should focus on finding Astrid right now, not Billie." Paige opened her mouth to protest, but Piper stopped her.

"Paige, I know it's hard. I don't really want to do it either. But Billie chose to leave. You know we won't be able to find her if she doesn't want to be found. Astrid, on the other hand….." Piper trailed off. Bianca looked up suddenly.

"Wait, let me see that text again!" She exclaimed. Leo glanced at Chris, who shrugged, and handed the phone to the still weak girl.

"I will see her, with or without your help," Bianca repeated. Piper gave her a blank look.

"So he kidnapped her???" Bianca shook her head.

"Ever since I've known Astrid all she's ever talked about is meeting her dad and forming a relationship with him," Bianca started. Phoebe nodded.

"Ok, so what?" Chris's mouth dropped slightly.

"So what if, when Billie wouldn't do anything, he tried to directly get in touch with Astrid," he suggested , catching up with his girlfriend. Bianca nodded.

"If he asked to meet her, she would agree, wouldn't she?" Bianca finished. Everyone stared at her.

"She disappeared at the check out line at the grocery store. It seems highly unlikely that she could be taken-- by a human or a demon-- without anyone noticing. But if she left voluntarily…" Kendra agreed.

"Or what if she was even meeting him?" Wyatt suggested. Piper nodded slowly.

"Shit. That seems very possible."

"I don't like it," Paige stated. Phoebe laughed humorlessly.

"I don't think Astrid cares."

"But Billie has make it so clear that he is not a good guy and that they wouldn't ever see him again. She even said he was dead. Why would Astrid disobey everything Billie has ever said?" Melinda asked. Piper jumped.

"Oh! I didn't realize you were down here sweetheart," Piper commented.

"She's always thought Billie was simply overprotective, I mean after all, this is her father. How awful could he be?" Paige explained.

"This is a perfect example of why you should always listen to your mother," Piper lectured. Melinda rolled her eyes.

"We still need to make a plan," Prue said.

"He won't hurt her," Phoebe said. Coop nodded in agreement.

"He did everything wrong, but he does love her," Piper said. Everyone nodded.

"What next?" No one knew the answer. There was a loud knock at the door. Everyone froze. Piper was the first to recover.

"Demons don't knock," she said lightly, getting up to answer the door.

**Happy New Year!! I am typing this on my new laptop! Hopefully, with this new laptop, I will be able to update more frequently. Hope everyone had a happy holiday, whatever you celebrate, or don't celebrate. XO**


	7. Point of Views

Even though she had acted as though she wasn't worried, Piper truly was. She had no idea who could be at the door. It was true that demons didn't knock, but that didn't mean that whoever was on the other side of the door wouldn't ruin their already horrible day. Slowly, she opened the door. A policeman was standing there with a very dazed Billie.

"Hello, I'm Officer McGee. Are you Piper Halliwell?" Piper nodded. "I found her roaming around the streets. You know, _the_ streets. She was trying to buy drugs. Illegal drugs. Her contact person is you. I'm going to let her off with a warning this time, but next time I'll have to arrest her. Keep her off the streets."

"Thank you officer, I appreciate it. Have a nice day." He nodded and headed back to his car. Piper slammed the door shut before turning to Billie.

"What the hell were you thinking, Billie? Drugs? Your daughter is missing! She needs you to be strong, not high! You've been clean for ten freaking years! This is not the time for a relapse!" Billie looked at her defiantly.

"I don't need you telling me what to do, Piper. I know good and well that Astrid is missing." Her words were slurred. Piper glared at her.

"Apparently you need someone telling you what to do! What the hell are you on, anyway?" Billie shrugged. Piper groaned.

"We have enough to do without babysitting you on top of it," Paige said, joining her sister. Billie glared at her white lighter.

"I don't need you telling me what to do either!" She shrieked. Phoebe sighed, walking into the room.

"Fighting isn't helping anything. Right now, we need to find Astrid. I'll watch Billie," Noticing Piper's look of protest, she added, "You'll still have the Power of Three with Prue. Someone needs to watch her. You three have the most active powers anyway. And don't argue with me Piper, you know I'm right." Piper sighed in defeat.

"Fine. Paige, come on. We have work to do." The two sisters walked back into the living room, without even giving Billie a second glance. Phoebe sat down at the kitchen table. She was just as mad as her sisters were, but she knew that they needed to focus on Astrid right now, not Billie. If they were right, Astrid was safe—for the moment. Derek wouldn't mean to hurt her. But he was unpredictable, especially is he wasn't clean.

"Billie, how could you do this?" Phoebe sighed. Billie glared at her.

"Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do, Phoebe," Billie hissed. Phoebe shook her head.

"Do you want to lose Astrid, Billie? You nearly lost her once. You heard what the judge said. If you end up in his courtroom again, you won't get her back. She'll be put up for adoption another family will get her. She'll call someone else Mommy. I don't want that to happen either, and you better believe we would do anything we could to help, but we aren't going to knowingly put her in danger." Billie's eyes flashed with anger.

"You think I'd hurt her?" Phoebe shrugged.

"I think that when you're high, you aren't thinking straight. I've seen you do things while high that no sane person would do. Do you really want Astrid to grow up with a mom like that? We are trying to help, Billie, but we can't do everything for you. You need to take responsibility for yourself. We can't do that for you."

"Are you done lecturing me?" Billie asked sarcastically. Phoebe rubbed her eyes and nodded.

"Good. Then I'm leaving." She stood up and started leaving.

"Billie, don't you dare leave," Phoebe said, getting up to stop her. Billie turned and punched Phoebe onto the floor before running out of the door. Everyone rushed into the kitchen.

"Phoebe, what happened? You're bleeding!" Prue exclaimed. Leo knelt down and held his hands over her bloody face. Coop helped his wife up into a chair. Prudence rushed over to her mother.

"Mommy? Mommy? Are you hurt?" The eight year old started crying. Pandora and Padma were right behind her.

"Leo, Henry, take the kids upstairs," Piper commanded. The two men nodded and herded the seven kids upstairs.

"Mo-om! Can't I stay down here?" Melinda asked. Piper knelt down next to her daughter.

"Honey, right now I need you to help Uncle Henry with the younger children. Prudence looks up to you. She's really upset right now. Please, don't argue with me right now." Melinda frowned, but followed the other kids upstairs. Piper turned back to her sisters.

"Shit. What do we do now? If she gets caught again…" Prue shook her head.

"Listen, we can worry about Billie right now. She is a grown woman who is making her own choices. We need to focus on finding Astrid and our demons. Here's the deal: Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Cole, and I will go back down to the Underworld and look for clues about the demon. The last thing we want is this guy attacking while we're dealing with all of this. Leo, Coop, Bianca, and Chris, you guys need to search for information about Derek. See if you can find out where he might be right now. Look for records. Anything that might help us find him. Kendra, Wyatt, you two should take to the streets and see if you can find Billie. Be careful; we don't know what she'll be like if you can find her. Sound good?" Everyone nodded and the group split up.

"I don't see anything," Phoebe said for the millionth time. Piper groaned loudly.

"Phoebe, we have to keep looking. We don't have a choice." Phoebe knew her older sister was right, as usual, but she didn't want to accept it. Of course, she didn't want to accept the alternative either. The fact that none of this was familiar to Cole worried her even more. Twenty years was a long time, but she didn't like that the Underworld had changed this much. She could tell no else, especially Prue did either.

"This is you specialty, Cole, why can't you help us?" Prue challenged. Cole sighed. He knew Prue didn't like him much. Neither did Paige. Or Piper for that matter. Phoebe wasn't too fond of him either if you stopped to think about it. But none of that mattered right now. What mattered was finding the demon, finding Astrid, and then helping Billie.

"Prue, a lot has changed since I was a demon. I'm trying the best I can to help and you know it," Cole responded. And Prue did know it. After all, she hardly recognized San Francisco. She bit her lip guiltily. She knew she was being selfish, but there was a part of her that hoped this would take a long time to clear up. She didn't want Astrid to be hurt, of course, or Billie, but if it just took a bit of time… She shook her head. _Selfish, Prue! You are being selfish!_ She knew that the only reason she wanted this to take a long time was so she could be human for a bit longer. Being a ghost was quite boring. Nothing to do all day except listen to other ghosts reminiscing about their human days. She missed having sisters, people who loved her and she loved back. Hell, at this point, after twenty-one years, she even missed demon hunting. She was being selfish, though. She needed to focus.

Piper snuck a glance at her older sister. Prue seemed conflicted about something, somehow, but Piper couldn't put her finger on what exactly was wrong. She was probably overreacting anyway. She smiled. This was where Chris got his neurotic tendencies from. Prue was just nervous. They all were. It had been a long time since anything this bad had happened. The last time it had been this bad was… probably Billie and Christy. So typical.

Paige sighed, but didn't say anything as they as they continued to walk on through the long, winding, passage. She hated the Underworld. She wanted to be at home with her husband and kids. It had been so long since she had been able to cuddle up with Henry on the couch and watch a movie. She missed that. She couldn't even remember the last time they'd had dinner as a family, or when she'd last gone to one of the twins' soccer games, or even just asked them how their day went. It had to have been ages. She mentally kicked herself. At least she knew her children were home safe with Henry. Billie had no idea where Astrid was. Damn that girl. What was she thinking, getting high again? Poor girl, she must be sick with worry. Only something as bad as that little girl could send Billie spiraling downhill again. Keeping the young girl in her mind, she trudged along after the rest of her family.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Leo said into the phone for what felt like the hundredth time. A few hours ago, they had found Derek's blog. Turned out, he went to rehab, cleaned himself up, etc. They were trying to find the rehab facility he had been to. With a bit of urging from Wyatt, they had cast a teeny spell that threw doctor-patient confidentiality out the window. So far, there was nothing. They had to hurry. If Piper found out about the spell…

Chris read the blog quickly. There had to be a million entries. This guy seemed to have documented his whole recovery. Except, he didn't seem too recovered. Even so, he hadn't managed to find anything important so far. They had to keep digging.

Bianca climbed back into her car. She and Wyatt had both gone out to local bars to see if anyone recognized Derek. No one had. They were running out of time.

Wyatt knew this wasn't adding up. Why hadn't anyone seen anything? This guy was a major drinking. So why wasn't he at any of the bars they'd checked out? And where was he getting his drugs? The drugs… He needed to get to Billie.

Billie closed her eyes. She was tired. So tired. She couldn't go to sleep. Astrid needed her. Her head was pounding. What was she even on? She couldn't remember. What if they didn't find her baby? What would she do? Where would she go? **[Tara, she'll go to Tara. She'll go home and think of a way to get her back!]**

Coop looked at the computer screen. Chris had called him to ask for some help with Derek's blog. Shifting through the crap was a tedious job. They needed to find what was important and what wasn't. A box popped on-screen. Coop had to give the screen a double look. He picked up the phone.

"Chris? You need to come here now!"

Henry was about to lose his mind. These children were driving him crazy. His own son wouldn't sit down and be quiet; Padma and Pandora were both shooting questions at him from every which way; Penelope and Patricia were a bit better, but they couldn't stay still. Melinda was being an angel. Wait till he told Piper. Prudence was in hysterics, not listening to anyone except her older cousin. Piper was going to be amazed, but her daughter really was great with the little girl. Prudence looked up to Mel so much, and lately with the sisters being so busy, it was helpful for her to be so sweet. She would never admit it, but Henry knew that Mel was really attached to the younger girl.

Astrid looked at the man and woman in front of her. She looked at Derek. If you squinted, they looked kind of alike. Same smile, though Derek wasn't doing too much smiling. She felt like she was missing something. The woman standing next to Derek definitely wasn't smiling.

"All right, we've got the girl. What do we do next?" The woman took a drag of her cigarette and blew the smoke out of her nose.

"Now we wait."

**Oh my gosh, has it really been since New Year's? I am so sorry it's been so long! Hope you enjoy the update.**


	8. Questions

Groaning, the sisters and Cole trudged back to the Manor. After hours of searching, they hadn't found anything, and they knew that it was getting late. They were tired and there was no doubt that Henry would be thankful to be relieved to the children.

"Well, that was a bust," Phoebe commented dejectedly. Paige nodded in agreement. Piper looked at her watch, shocked that it was already ten o'clock. Sighing, Prue opened the door to the Manor. A little girl came running.

"Auntie Prue!

-- Auntie Prue!

--Auntie Prue!

--Mommy!

--Mommy!

--Mommy!

--Auntie Piper!" A chorus of yells greeted the girls. Henry ran down the stairs after the wild children. Phoebe closed her eyes, ignored her daughters, and walked into the kitchen. She was in major need of some coffee. Piper, on the other, was not going to put up with the screaming tonight.

"The next person to yell is grounded for a year!" Piper yelled. Paige nodded in agreement. Melinda walked into the room.

"You know, Mom, technically you're the one who just yelled." Piper shook her head. Just then, as if on cue, Coop, Chris, Wyatt and Kendra burst into the room, all from different directions, all yelling.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYF'NGOD!!" Kendra was yelling, her and Wyatt both nearly jumping up and down.

"WE FOUND HIM! WE FOUND HIM! WE FOUND HIM!" Came from Coop and Chris. Piper's eyes widened.

"MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!" Prudence was whining.

"EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!" Piper yelled louder that everyone, blowing up a vase in the process. Everyone closed their mouth.

"All right. Kendra and Wyatt, what is so important?" Kendra grinned.

"I'm pregnant!" Piper's eyes bulged out. Phoebe, Paige, and Prue all ran over to hug Kendra.

"YOU'RE WHAT? But, but! I'm only forty-nine! I'm way too young to be a grandma!" Wyatt shook his head, trying not to laugh.

"Oh, Piper, you're going to love being a grandma! You were made for it!" Phoebe laughed. Prue nodded.

"You're going to be wonderful, Piper, don't worry." Piper took a deep breath.

"Well, are you two getting married?" Kendra looked at Wyatt and smiled. Then she showed off the ring on her hand.

"OOOOOHHH!" Phoebe squealed. There was a knock on the door. Smiling, Prue got up to get it. Piper turned.

"Wait! Do you think it's safe?" Prue shrugged.

"I'm already a ghost. What's it matter." Piper looked like she wanted to protest, but didn't. Prue headed to the door. Opening it, Billie rushed in, dripping with rain and tears.

"Piper! You might want to come here!" Prue called, handing the soaked girl a towel. Piper walked into the room, closely followed by Paige and Phoebe. She'd been fully prepared to be pissed when she saw Billie, but at the sight of the girl, she didn't find the anger in her heart.

"Pheebs, did you make that coffee?" Piper asked. Phoebe nodded and rushed over to pour Billie a cup, as well as cups for her and her sisters.

"Ok Billie, sit down. What's going on with you?" Paige asked her young charge. The thirty-six year old didn't respond, just covered her face with her hands. Her small body racked with sobs. Taking a close look at the girl, Prue noticed blood on the girl's pants. She nudged Piper slightly and Piper saw the blood.

"Everybody out!" Piper exclaimed loudly. Her sisters stared at her, but noticing the look on Piper's face, they left. Piper sat down next to Billie, handing her a cup of coffee.

"Let's talk, sweetie. What happened?" Billie shook her head. Piper sighed, took Billie's hands in her own, and tilted the girl's face up, forcing her to look at the older woman.

"It was not your fault. You were vulnerable and someone took advantage of that. It is not and never will be your fault." Tears fell down Billie's face as Piper pulled her into a tight embrace.

"How did you know?" Billie sobbed. Piper nodded down to the girl's pants. Piper started to stand up, but Billie grabbed onto her arm.

"Sweetie, I'm just going to get you a different pair of pants. You can come with me. Will you let Paige heal you?" Billie shook her head. Piper sighed.

"Please?" Finally, the frightened girl agreed and Piper called Paige in. By now, Paige and Phoebe had both guessed what had happened. Paige gently slipped Billie's pants down and healed her. Billie gave her whitelighter a small hug before heading to the bathroom, where Piper had left a pair of pants for her. Things were going to get better.

"Astrid, you're a good girl, aren't you?" The woman asked. Astrid nodded nervously. She wanted to know the secret that she had been promised.

"I want you to write a letter to your mother and her friends. Can you do that?" Astrid nodded. The woman smiled and took a drag of her cigarette.

"I'll tell you what I want you to say, all right?" Astrid nodded and too the pen.

A letter appeared on the Halliwell's kitchen table, addressed to the sisters and Billie. Nervously, Billie handed the paper to Piper, who opened it and began to read it out loud.

_Dear Mom, Aunt Piper, Aunt Phoebe, and Aunt Paige, _

_I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly, but I had to. I'm so sick of constantly being bossed around. I'm happier now. I don't want you to worry about me; I'm safe. But I wanted to write you all of you once, because you won't ever hear from me again. This is goodbye. _

_Aunt Piper: _

_You are so bossy! It's always 'do this, do that'. You hover, too. I'm sick and tired of it. You aren't in charge of the world. You aren't even my mother. In fact, you always hated my mother. You resented her for killing your sisters. Even after she helped save them, you still hated her! What is wrong with you? Maybe Mom had the right idea killing you all those years ago. _

_Aunt Phoebe: _

_You are so busy all the time! You don't have any time to pay attention to me. You never even noticed how unhappy I was. You claim to be my mom's best friend. Some friend you are! You tried to kill her! Is that what 'best friends' do? Kill each other? You should be ashamed of yourself!_

_Aunt Paige: _

_You are one of the most annoying people in the world! That magic school is all that matters to you! You don't even have time for your husband and kids! You call yourself a protector. Is that what you were when you tried to kill me mother? You were supposed to be her protector! And you tried to kill her! You are evil, all of you!  
_

_Mother:_

_Oh Mother, my dear Mother. I hate you. I truly do. You took me away from my dad. Don't you know that kids need their dads? Oh wait, you thought that you were doing what was best for me. Well, has it ever occurred to you that if you hadn't been so drugged up, you wouldn't have had a baby with someone so miserable? You could have given me a better life. But, you are known for making mistakes. Like when you killed my aunt. How could you do that, Mom? How could you kill your own sister? She would have done anything in the world for you, and you killed her. With her own power. That was weak. You had to kill her with her own fireball. Well guess what? You can't fool me anymore! I know the whole story now, and I don't choose you. _

_You all made your choices. I made mine. You killed my aunt. I never even got a chance to meet her. How could you? Now you'll never see me again. _

_Astrid _

Tears were streaming down Billie's face by the time she reached the end of the letter. How did Astrid know about Christy? Piper voiced Billie's thoughts.

"How did she know about Christy? You didn't tell her did you?" Billie shook her head quickly. Prue bit her lip gently, thinking.

"I never told her anything about any of it. I mean, she knew that I used to have a sister; she's seen pictures. But I would never tell her about everything that happened. Do you really resent me?" Billie asked in a small voice. Piper pulled the younger witch into a hug.

"No, of course I don't resent you. I got over all of that a long time ago. You're like a sister to me. To all of us, really. We love you, Billie. By now, you should know that." Paige and Phoebe nodded in agreement.

"If you didn't tell her, how the hell did she find out?" Prue asked. Phoebe furrowed her brows in deep thought.

"Not to mention the drugs. How did Astrid find out about the drugs?" Phoebe asked. Billie paled.

"I don't know. I never told her." Piper frowned.

"I don't think Astrid wrote this letter. I mean, obviously, she wrote it, but I think someone prompted her. Someone who knew about all of this." Paige nodded.

"So, what if we wrote back? And did a spell to send it back to where it came from. Billie, can you do that?" Billie nodded and picked up a pen.

_Dearest Astrid, _

_Baby girl, I am so sorry. I never meant to make you unhappy. You're right, I did make mistakes in my life. But I love you and I have always done what I thought was best for you. You're my baby. I know not everything with your father was dealt with properly. I could have done a better job, but I did what I thought was best all the same. I only want to protect you. That's all I've ever wanted to do. _

_Sweetie, I don't know where you heard what you heard about your aunt, but you don't have the full story. I don't want to put everything in this letter, but I want to tell you. Honey, come home and I will explain everything. So will your aunts. We will tell you everything. _

_Baby, if you are in any sort of trouble, I will help you. We all will. We love you so much. We would do anything for you. It doesn't matter what you've done; we will always love you. Talk to us, baby. We can help you. Is someone hurting you? Are you in danger? Tell us where you are, baby, and we'll come. Just let us talk. Please. _

_I love you Angel,_

_Mom_

Astrid watched as the woman growled loudly. She was reading a letter. Astrid shivered slightly at the woman's anger. For the first time since she'd been there, she was scared. She thought she was going to see her dad and learn a secret, but she had no idea who this woman was. She desperately wanted to ask, but the woman was extremely angry right now.

"Can I read the letter?" Astrid asked timidly. The woman glared at her and slapped her across the face, hard. Astrid recoiled.

"All right, girl. Here's the deal. I'm in charge here. You will do what I say, when I say it. You will not argue. You will not question me. You will simply do what I say. Follow my rules and you won't need to get hurt. Disobey me and you will be punished. Understand?" Astrid nodded.

"Good." Without another word, the woman lit the piece of paper on fire. Astrid's eyes widened. Auntie Piper had told her that pyrokenesis was extremely rare. Yet there were two witches in the same room with this power. She wondered briefly if Aunt Piper knew about this woman. Speaking of which, who was this woman? She was kind of weird.

"Can I ask you one question?" Astrid asked. The woman raised her eyebrows.

"What's your name?" The woman threw her head back and laughed.

"Christy."

The five girls were all looking at the table where, only seconds ago, the letter had been. All of a sudden, Billie fell sideways off her chair. Paige jumped down and started shaking her. Billie sat up, looking dazed.

"Billie, sweetie, what's wrong? What happened?" Billie took a deep breath.

"I just heard Christy."

**A/N Dun dun dun… Wow, I got a ton of writing done today! I got this out, plus uploaded another story! I'm so sorry that it took so long to update. Hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
